Commercial Buildings Archives - Page 36 of 76

Plaza Hotel, New York City

February 9, 2018June 24, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Plaza Hotel at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 59th Street, around 1907-1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The hotel in 2016:

New York’s Plaza Hotel is named for the Grand Army Plaza, which is located here at the southeast corner of Central Park. It has since become a prominent historic landmark, but when the first photo was taken it was virtually brand new. It replaced an earlier Plaza Hotel that had been completed in 1890. This eight-story building was damaged by a fire in 1902, and although it remained structurally sound, it was sold and demolished a few years later.

The new owner hired architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, whose previous commissions included the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. His design for the new Plaza Hotel was no less grand, and the 17-story hotel was completed in 1907 after two years of construction, at a cost of $12.5 million. Over the years, the hotel has seen plenty of wealthy, prominent guests, as well as some notable owners. Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels, purchased it in 1943 for $7.4 million and, after changing hands several more times, it was sold to Donald Trump in 1988 for $407.5 million.

Since then, it has gone through several more ownership changes, and from 2005-2008 the century-old hotel was significantly remodeled. Many of the hotel rooms were converted into condominium units, selling for upwards of $10 million per unit. Today, instead of over 800 hotel rooms, it now has just 282 in addition to the 181 condominiums. However, on the exterior the hotel looks essentially the same as it did when the first photo was taken, and it is listed as a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fifth Avenue from 57th Street, New York City

June 23, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Fifth Avenue from 57th Street in New York City, around 1910-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Fifth Avenue in 2016:

These photos were taken just a block further up Fifth Avenue from the ones in the previous post, and they show Grand Avenue Plaza and the southeast corner of Central Park in the distance. On the far left side of the first photo is part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II House, which was demolished in 1926 to build the present-day Bergdorf Goodman building. The ornate wrought-iron gates, though, were preserved, and Vanderbilt’s daughter Gertrude later donated them to Central Park, where they now stand at the Conservatory Garden. None of the other buildings in the foreground are still standing, and the only object that has remained the same is the golden equestrian statue of General Sherman, barely visible from here in the center of the Plaza.

Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street, New York City (2)

February 9, 2018June 21, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The view looking south on Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street, with the New York Public Library on the right side, around 1912. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The view in 2016:

This view is similar to an earlier post, with the only difference being that it is a little further back and angled further to the right. The first photo here was probably taken around the same time as the one in this previous post, as they both show the Taft-Sherman campaign banner across Fifth Avenue in the distance. Based on the fact that the trees to the right don’t have many leaves left, the photo was probably taken in the fall of 1912, maybe in late October or the first week of November.

President Taft had actually visited this location about a year and a half earlier, when he presided over the opening ceremonies for the New York Public Library. Today, not much has changed in this exterior view of the library building. Another building still standing from the first photo is the Knox Hat Building, in the center of the photo at the corner of 40th Street. This incredibly ornate building was designed by architect John H. Duncan and completed in 1902 for the Knox Hat Company, who used the first two floors for retail space and had offices in the upper floors. It was later used as a bank, and it is now owned by HSBC. They combined it with the modern glass skyscraper behind it, but the historic building still retains its distinctive appearance.

Fifth Avenue Near 42nd Street, New York City (2)

June 20, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north up Fifth Avenue from near 42nd Street, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Fifth Avenue in 2016:

This view shows Fifth Avenue from the same spot as the previous post, just facing in the opposite direction. Not much is left from the first photo, as all of the buildings in the foreground and probably almost everything in the distance has since been demolished. Among the first to go were the buildings on the right side at the corner of 42nd Street, which were probably taken down soon after the photo was taken in order to make room for the Astor Trust Company building. This 22-story skyscraper was completed in 1916, and is still standing today after recent renovations that restored it to its original appearance.

Probably the most significant demolished building from the first photo is the Temple Emanu-El, located on the right side of the street at the corner of 43rd Street. It had been completed in 1868 to serve the growing Jewish population of New York City, and at the time it was located in a predominantly residential area. However, over the years Fifth Avenue became more commercial, and as the street’s wealthy residents moved uptown, so did the congregation. The building was sold in 1926, and demolished several years later to build the 40-story skyscraper that now stands in its place.

Fifth Avenue Near 42nd Street, New York City

June 20, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking south on Fifth Avenue in New York City from in front of the New York Public Library, between 41st and 42nd Streets, around 1910-1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroi Publishing Company Collection.

Fifth Avenue in 2016:

The first photo is blurry and somewhat out of focus, which gives a busy, chaotic feel to the picture as blurred cars speed past the pedestrians on the crowded sidewalks. Not much has changed in that regard in the past century, and even many of the buildings from the first photo are still standing. There is a good number of modern skyscrapers in this scene, but interspersed with them is a variety of early 20th century commercial buildings.

Some of the historic buildings in the present-day scene include the Knox Hat Building on the far right, at the corner of 42nd Street. Built in 1902, this 10-story building housed a company that probably sold many of the hats worn by the pedestrians in the first photo. Further down Fifth Avenue on the left is a similarly-designed building with a copper mansard roof. This was the Knabe Building, which was completed in 1906 for Wm. Knabe & Co., a piano manufacturing company.

Other early 20th century commercial buildings include the one on the far left at the corner of 41st Street, and, a block away, the current Mid-Manhattan Library building, which has the two vertical red banners in the 2016 scene. The most prominent building in this area, though, is the main branch of the New York Public Library just out of sight to the right. Only the lions at the front steps are visible from this angle, but they help to establish the date of the first photo as being no earlier than about 1910-1911, when they were installed at the newly-opened library building.

Fifth Avenue from 42nd Street, New York City

June 20, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north up Fifth Avenue from the corner of 42nd Street, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Fifth Avenue in 2016:

Unlike sections of Fifth Avenue to the south of here, this then and now scene shows no discernible landmarks left from the first photo. The area in this view, from 42nd Street north to Central Park, has some of the most valuable commercial real estate in the world, so over the years most of the low-rise structures from the early 1900s have been replaced with more modern buildings. One such building is to the left of center in the 2016 photo, at the corner of 43nd Street. Built in 1954 as the home of the Manufacturers Trust Company, this glass and aluminum building was an early example of modern architecture in the United States, and it is now designated as a New York City landmark.

The first photo was taken sometime before automobiles became the dominant form of transportation in the city, as most of the vehicles in this scene are horse-drawn carriages. However, one particularly interesting vehicle is the double-decker bus on the left side, which was operated by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company. Unlike all of the other numbered avenues in Manhattan, Fifth Avenue never had a trolley line, as its wealthy residents did not want tracks and trolleys running down their street. Instead, it was served by buses such as the one in the photo, which carries a Bull Durham Chewing Tobacco advertisement on the side of it. This has continued to the present-day, with several bus lines running along the surface of Fifth Avenue instead of a subway underneath it.